Thomas C. Dula - North Wilkesboro, North Carolina - Immortalized in Lyrics on Waymarking.com

This historic marker is located at the intersection of N. C. Route 268 and Tom Dula Road in Wilkes County.

It reads:

Thomas C. Dula
1844 -1868
"Tom Dooley" of popular legend and song.
Hanged in Statesville for the murder of Laura Foster.
Grave is 1 1/2 miles SW.

Info:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dula

Tom Dula was born to a poor Appalachian hill country family in Wilkes County, North Carolina, most likely the youngest of three brothers, with one younger sister, Eliza. The young Dula grew up, attended school, and "probably played with the female Fosters", Ann (later Melton), and Laura, her younger cousin.[5] As the children grew up, Tom and Ann apparently became close, falling in love at some point. Three months before his eighteenth birthday, on March 15, 1862, he signed up as a private in Company K in the Forty Second North Carolina Infantry Regiment and served until 1865.[1] Surprisingly, there is some evidence that Dula was literate, as according to accounts at the time, he wrote a 15-page account of his life, as well as the note that exonerated Ann Melton. His literacy is highly unusual given his station in life, and the incredible poverty of his upbringing. During the three years Tom spent in the military, Ann--apparently despairing of ever seeing Tom again--met and married an older farmer, James Melton. This would become a pivotal decision in events that were to come.

Upon returning from the war, Dula discovered that Ann had married James Melton. Given his reputation as something of a libertine,[2] it did not take Dula long to take up with young Laura. She became pregnant shortly thereafter, and she and Dula decided to elope. On the night she was to meet Dula, she left her home, never to be seen alive again.[1] While it is not known for certain what happened that evening, many of the stories that have grown out of the folklore of the time implicate Ann Melton in some way. In fact, it was Ann's word that led to the discovery of the girl's body. Foster had been stabbed multiple times with a large knife. The gruesome nature of the murder captured national attention, and most likely led to the enduring notoriety of the crime.[1]

The role of Dula in the slaying is unclear. He fled shortly after her body was found -- when he was declared a suspect -- working for a time for Colonel James Grayson, in Watauga County,[2] before taking refuge across the state line in Trade, Tennessee. Grayson would enter the folklore that later surrounded Dula as a romantic rival, but this was simply not the case, and history has vindicated him. Grayson did, however, help the Wilkes County posse bring Dula in, once his identity was discovered.[1]

After Dula was arrested, North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance represented him pro bono, and maintained Dula's innocence of the charges. He succeeded in having the trial moved from Wilkesboro to Statesville, as it was widely believed that Dula would never receive a fair trial in Wilkes County. Dula was convicted, and although he was given a new trial on appeal he was convicted again. His supposed accomplice, Jack Keaton was set free, and on Dula's word, Melton was acquitted of the crime. As he stood on the gallows facing his death, he is reported to have said, “Gentlemen, do you see this hand? I didn’t harm a hair on the girl’s head”. He was executed nearly two years after the murder of his fiancée, on May 1, 1868. His younger sister and her husband retrieved his body for burial after the execution.

Musician: The Kingston Trio Name of Song: Hang down Your Head, Tom Dooley Relevant Verse: Hang down your head Tom Dooley Hand down your head and cry Hand down your head Tom Dooley Poor boy you're bound to die I met her on the mountain There I took her life I met her on the mountain Stabbed her with my knife This time tomorrow Reckon where I'll be Hadn't it been for Grayson I'd been in Tennessee This time tomorrow Reckon where i'll be Down in some lonesome valley Hanin' from a white oak tree Location website: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/13/2008 macleod1 visited it

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